Vegetarian foods high in Iron (USDA SR Legacy)

Red meat and poultry dominate this ranking because their iron binds easily to the proteins that carry oxygen through your blood. Animal tissues contain haem iron, the form your body absorbs with the fewest obstacles. Plant foods hold non-haem iron, which your gut takes up less readily and only when other compounds in the meal do not block it.

Iron concentrates in organ meats, then muscle meats, then leafy greens and legumes. A single ranking cannot show you absorption rates. Two foods with the same iron count per 100 g deliver different amounts to your bloodstream depending on what else you eat alongside them.

Without animal foods, you lose access to haem iron. Plant sources and fortified foods supply non-haem iron instead, which your body absorbs at a lower rate and loses to interference from phytates, tannins and polyphenols in the same meal. Eating vitamin C alongside iron-rich plants improves uptake substantially. Many fortified cereals and plant milks contain added iron in amounts comparable to meat, but absorption remains the limiting factor on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

FDA daily value: 18 mg

Selling a product with iron? Generate a print-ready nutrition label from your recipe.

Showing 3401–3450 of 4,377 foods

#	Food	Category	Per 100 g	% DV
3401	Milk, dry, nonfat, instant, with added vitamin A and vitamin D	Dairy and Egg Products	0.31 mg	2%
3402	Apples, dried, sulfured, stewed, with added sugar	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.31 mg	2%
3403	Cheese, blue	Dairy and Egg Products	0.31 mg	2%
3404	Milk, dry, nonfat, instant, without added vitamin A and vitamin D	Dairy and Egg Products	0.31 mg	2%
3405	Babyfood, dinner, mixed vegetable, junior	Baby Foods	0.31 mg	2%
3406	Babyfood, corn and sweet potatoes, strained	Baby Foods	0.31 mg	2%
3407	Soup, tomato rice, canned, prepared with equal volume water	Soups, Sauces, and Gravies	0.31 mg	2%
3408	Gooseberries, raw	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.31 mg	2%
3409	Beverages, pineapple and grapefruit juice drink, canned	Beverages	0.31 mg	2%
3410	Beverages, vegetable and fruit juice blend, 100% juice, with added vitamins A, C, E	Beverages	0.31 mg	2%
3411	Beverages, chocolate-flavor beverage mix, powder, prepared with whole milk	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3412	Babyfood, dinner, macaroni and cheese, junior	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3413	Babyfood, fruit, apricot with tapioca, strained	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3414	Babyfood, fruit, bananas with tapioca, junior	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3415	Pie, blueberry, commercially prepared	Baked Products	0.30 mg	2%
3416	Fruit cocktail, (peach and pineapple and pear and grape and cherry), canned, extra light syrup, solids and liquids	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3417	Salad dressing, ranch dressing, regular	Fats and Oils	0.30 mg	2%
3418	Cranberry juice cocktail, frozen concentrate	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3419	SILK Nog, soymilk	Legumes and Legume Products	0.30 mg	2%
3420	Apricots, canned, juice pack, with skin, solids and liquids	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3421	Apricots, canned, extra light syrup pack, with skin, solids and liquids (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program)	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3422	Beverages, coconut milk, sweetened, fortified with calcium, vitamins A, B12, D2	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3423	Beverages, Fruit punch drink, frozen concentrate	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3424	Beverages, V8 SPLASH Juice Drinks, Diet Strawberry Kiwi	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3425	Beverages, Vegetable and fruit juice drink, reduced calorie, with low-calorie sweetener, added vitamin C	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3426	Soup, tomato, canned, prepared with equal volume low fat (2%) milk	Soups, Sauces, and Gravies	0.30 mg	2%
3427	Soup, cheese, canned, prepared with equal volume water	Soups, Sauces, and Gravies	0.30 mg	2%
3428	Fruit salad, (peach and pear and apricot and pineapple and cherry), canned, water pack, solids and liquids	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3429	Vitasoy USA, Vitasoy Light Vanilla Soymilk	Legumes and Legume Products	0.30 mg	2%
3430	Babyfood, banana no tapioca, strained	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3431	Prickly pears, raw	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3432	Apricots, canned, heavy syrup, drained	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3433	Candies, hard	Sweets	0.30 mg	2%
3434	Babyfood, grape juice, no sugar, canned	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3435	Plantains, green, boiled	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3436	Beverages, almond milk, sweetened, vanilla flavor, ready-to-drink	Beverages	0.30 mg	2%
3437	Rennin, chocolate, dry mix, prepared with 2% milk	Sweets	0.30 mg	2%
3438	Frozen yogurts, vanilla, soft-serve	Sweets	0.30 mg	2%
3439	Restaurant, family style, coleslaw	Restaurant Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3440	Babyfood, juice, apple-sweet potato	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3441	Mangosteen, canned, syrup pack	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3442	Pomegranates, raw	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3443	Cabbage, chinese (pe-tsai), cooked, boiled, drained, with salt	Vegetables and Vegetable Products	0.30 mg	2%
3444	Mushrooms, maitake, raw	Vegetables and Vegetable Products	0.30 mg	2%
3445	Rennin, chocolate, dry mix, prepared with whole milk	Sweets	0.30 mg	2%
3446	Huckleberries, raw (Alaska Native)	American Indian/Alaska Native Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3447	Babyfood, dessert, banana pudding, strained	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3448	Babyfood, fruit, tutti frutti, junior	Baby Foods	0.30 mg	2%
3449	Peaches, canned, extra light syrup, solids and liquids (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program)	Fruits and Fruit Juices	0.30 mg	2%
3450	Cabbage, chinese (pe-tsai), cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	Vegetables and Vegetable Products	0.30 mg	2%

Need this on a label? Turn these foods into a print-ready Nutrition Facts label.

Make a label

Vegetarian foods high in Iron (USDA SR Legacy)

Turn these foods into a print-ready nutrition label.